Suicide by snake: Brokenhearted man live streams his death after letting deadly pet black mamba to bite him

A snake expert allowed his deadly pet black mamba to bite him on his hand and he live-streamed his excruciating death over the internet. Arslan Valeev committed "suicide by snake" because he was apparently heartbroken following the breakup of his marriage and pleaded with horrified viewers to call his ex-wife.

Arslan is seen at the beginning of the video looking relatively OK while displaying his bleeding finger for viewers, then his condition deteriorated as the harrowing scenes were broadcast online. The 31-year-old's breathing quickened and his eyes started rolling before his limbs appeared to become numb from the deadly snake's venom.

Arslan and his wife Ekaterina "Katya" Pyatyzhkina were famous for running YouTube channels about snakes and cats, with hundreds of thousands of followers. Arslan and his wife seemed so in love in all their photos so it's understandable that he was devastated when things went south.

Friends said that Arslan had accused his wife of cheating on him, while reports claimed he had beat her and she had suffered a concussion. Last week, Arslan publicly apologised to her for his behaviour, but she had already obtained a divorce and was in a new relationship.

In the shocking live stream, he said: "Hi. So, guys. It's time to do what I must do. Live stream [unintelligible]."

He then got up and went off camera, but a muffled sound of "ouch" could be heard as the deadly snake bit him.

He returned telling viewers: "If I die, then I die... I just will stay with you for some time. Just in case - on my mobile there is a message for Katya."

At this point, he started breathing faster, and his eyes started rolling. His muscles appeared to become numb.

The Russian blogger showed his bitten finger with blood on it, saying: "Pass on to Katya that I loved her very much. Beautiful, isn't it? Oh, damn, how it. Bye to everyone. I can't believe it is happening to me."

He then read out his former wife's mobile number.

He added: "This is Katya's number, if someone manages to call her, if she has time to come to me and see me, I would be happy. In fact I'm already dying. Farewell. I would be glad to see Katya. Damn, I'm shaking."

At the end of the footage, he got up from his chair and staggered off camera. At least one viewer called an ambulance, which later arrived and rushed him to hospital, but medics were unable to save him. It was also claimed that he had stumbled into the street seeking help before the ambulance arrived for him. The actual snake bite and moment of death were not shown.

A day earlier, the former zoo employee had announced a special broadcast with one of his "most beloved snakes", called Mamba, but he gave no clue about his intentions.

 His ex-wife has not spoken publicly about the distressing video. Friends of Arslan have paid tribute to him online. One friend said it was not suicide but an accident as Arslan tried to transfer a snake.

The friend wrote on one of his channels: "Turning on the camera, as normal, he went to get a snake out of the terrarium to move it into a plastic container used for broadcasts. In the process of doing this the snake bit him. Being an expert in keeping poisonous snakes with 20 years experience, Arslan aware of what happened. He left a message to his wife Ekaterina, and asked viewers who turned out to be eyewitnesses to get in touch with Katya, because his limbs began to get numb quickly, depriving him of the opportunity to call help himself. Then he went out into the street, waiting for the arrival of help."

In the posting when Arslan apologised to Katya, he also wrote: "I see that everything has passed for you, a new life began with someone you have long been close to."

He also said: "There were no betrayals, we had no sex since July, we parted even earlier. They started to date at the end of July and I believe Katya about this."

He told her: "I am sincerely happy about it, but too weak not to react with stupidities. In any case, my misdemeanors have only come back to me, while your new life allows you to treat my words as ... like noise, probably. Take this with humour, laugh at me and go further, as your current situation allows you to."

But he shared his pain over the breakup.

He said: "I cannot describe in words the extent of my disappointment with myself. I cannot describe the shock that I experience every day when I wake up in this new world without someone I have lost and deserved to lose, who I was with a couple of seconds ago in a dream. If it makes you feel better, it hurts and I'm lonely. I know what to do, I've heard a lot of advice, but the feeling of emptiness and a broken life can only pass with time. Miracles do not happen, we do not live in a fairy tale."

Below is the video showing Arslan's final moment.